The histopathology of kidney changes in rats and monkeys following intravenous administration of massive doses of FCE 26184, human basic fibroblast growth factor

Intravenous administration of human basic fibroblast growth factor up to 100 μg/kg/day to Sprague-Dawley rats caused changes in the kidneys that included enlargement, vacuolation, and karyomegaly of podocytes in glomeruli, dilatation and cast formation in tubules, thickening of the media in the lobular arteries, and hyperplasia of the epithelium of the papilla and collecting ducts. In cynomolgus monkeys there was hyperplasia of the parietal epithelium of Bowman's capsule in the glomeruli, tubular dilatation, and minimal arteriopathy. These changes were only seen at 100 μg/kg/day. The development and eventual recovery over time were investigated in a sequence of sacrifices. In monkeys the first changes were seen after 7 days of treatment, but in rats only after 16 days. In both species the changes had partially resolved after 30 days of recovery and were considered to return to normal after 60 days without treatment. The morphological changes were accompanied by functional alterations that included proteinuria and raised blood urea. Changes that occurred in other tissues including bone, red blood cells, adrenals, ovaries, liver, gall bladder, spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, thymus, aorta, salivary glands, and injection site are not described in this paper.